Chelsea will pocket a cool £4million from one of their London neighbours if Armando Broja doesn't start for Fulham this weekend.
A deal was agreed for Broja, 22, to swap Stamford Bridge for Craven Cottage back in the winter transfer window. The Albania international was sought after by a number of Premier League clubs after finding first-team football at Chelsea hard to come by - but he's experienced similar issues at Fulham.
Broja has yet to start a single match for the Whites in the wake of Rodrigo Muniz's red-hot form. However, Broja's dearth of match action will help the Blues bank a tidy sum if he remains on the bench for Fulham's Premier League meeting with Tottenham on Saturday.
The Sun outlined some of the terms behind the deal which took Broja across the capital earlier this week. Fulham did not have to pay a loan fee to land Broja per the initial agreement, but that would only stand if he started in 60 per cent of their remaining games.
Chelsea were happy with such terms after failing to find a buyer for Broja, who was valued in January at £50m. The idea was that his six-month stint at Fulham would put him in the shop window ahead of the summer, although that hasn't proven to be the case.
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With just 10 games remaining this season, if Broja fails to start against Tottenham, Fulham would be unable to meet the threshold of starts needing to honour their agreement with Chelsea, therefore triggering a seven-figure payment to their London rivals.
Even with that financial penalty looming over them, it remains to be seen if Fulham will hand Broja his first start at the weekend. Muniz has made the No.9 spot his own in recent weeks after plundering five goals in his last six matches.
Join the debate! Do you think Chelsea should sell Broja or keep him? Let us know here.
The £4million payment would help Chelsea chairman Todd Boehly in his bid to balance the books at Stamford Bridge (Dan Weir / MatchDay Images Limited)Fulham head coach Marco Silva stressed a fortnight ago that he still believes Broja can make an impact this season - but he will have to bide his time for an opportunity.
Speaking last month, Silva said of Broja: "He has to wait for his chance. We really believe he is the right guy to be here. He arrived on deadline day before the Burnley game and he had 20 minutes on the pitch but Rodrigo scored and then the game after Rodrigo scored twice.
"Unfortunately for him, last week he was unwell and missed the match but now he is available and I will decide what the best solution will be to start the game. He's working hard at a different club with a different style and he needs time to adapt and understand things. It takes time but we can see his quality."
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